The present invention relates to a vehicle headlight system and, in particular, concerns a vehicle headlight system using digital beam pattern control in response to vehicle and roadway conditions for improved visibility and roadway illumination. This modulated beam can be in addition to the existing fixed beam, so as to provide enhanced illumination.
Ever since the advent of the automobile, automotive manufacturers have been striving to improve roadway illumination by various vehicle headlight configurations in order to improve the drivability and safety aspects of operating the vehicle in dark or otherwise low visibility conditions such as night-time driving conditions. Numerous vehicle headlight configurations and systems have been proposed to automatically control the state of a vehicle's headlights. For example, many vehicles today include daytime running lights wherein the vehicle's headlights are illuminated continuously during daylight to make the vehicle more noticeable to other vehicles. Many vehicles also include headlights that automatically become active when low light level conditions are detected. Other vehicle headlight systems have been proposed which mechanically “steer” the headlights when, for example, the vehicle steering wheel is turned to bias the headlights toward the area where the vehicle is being directed. Other headlight control systems automatically dim the headlights from “high beam” mode to “low beam” mode upon the detection of an oncoming vehicle's headlights or a leading vehicle's taillights. All of these vehicle headlight systems have the common drawback of being limited to very few headlight beam illumination patterns and/or including numerous mechanical elements to steer or otherwise modify the headlight beam illumination pattern. Thus, there remains a need for a vehicle headlight system that provides a robust, automatically adaptable headlight beam illumination pattern.